A Chat With Supermom Emma Heming Willis, Founder & CEO of Coco Baba

2.24.19

Image by Belathée Photography

Malta-born model and mom Emma Heming Willis recently launched Cocobaba, a line of coconut oil-based beauty products for moms. She’s also a bloggere, an ambassador for Room to Grow, a nonprofit that provides coaching, connection and material assistance to low-income families, and yes– she’s married to Bruce Willis. Emma shared her wisdom on self-care for moms, the inspiration behind her nonprofit work and some stellar advice for other parents.

Congratulations on both your beautiful family and your blog! What inspired you to start blogging?

When I had my first child, Mabel, I was bombarded with people telling me what I should and shouldn’t be doing every step of the way. As a nervous first-time mom, it was overwhelming, and all the chatter started making me feel less than confident. I started my blog with an open-door policy—I wanted it to be a place that I could share ideas and suggestions on any topic and others could share theirs. Moms could look through the comments on my Instagram or blog and see if anything rang true for them. I don’t like when people get preachy, but if there is one thing I get preachy about to moms, it’s the importance of self-care.

In some of your blog entries, you write about self-care. What’s one piece of advice you’d give new moms about self-care?

It’s not selfish to care for yourself first—it’s critical.

Tell us a little about your work with Room to Grow.

When we moved back to the East Coast, I was looking for a local organization I could donate our baby items to. I heard about Room to Grow and the amazing work that they were doing to support low-income families. Coming from a single parent household, this spoke to me.

What I first loved about this organization is that they’re more than a place to donate your baby items to. They start their work with families in need when the mother is pregnant, and they work with the families until their baby reaches the age of three. They’re there to empower the new moms and families through structured coaching, material goods and community connections. I loved this model and quickly became more involved in ways that I knew would complement the great work Room to Grow was already doing.

Image by Belathée Photography

If you could hand off one chore to someone else each day, what would it be?

Putting my kids to bed! We are going through a phase where at the end of the night they have a million other things they need to do and tell me about. I’m not a night person, so our nighttime routine has turned into a chore that I’d sure like to pass on to someone else!! But once they are asleep, they sure do look like little angels 😉

What is your favorite thing to do to relax and unwind?

At the end of the night when the kids are finally in bed, I either take a long shower or bath, then I watch Netflix and chill.

What is your best parenting hack?

It’s all about being and staying organized. I try to stay five steps ahead of my family – this can be as simple as packing my daughter’s school lunch the night before so I don’t have that extra thing I need to get done in the morning.

What is the best white lie that you’ve told your child?

The whole “how babies are made” conversation. My kids are four and six, and not ready for the birds and the bees explanation. But they’ve always been curious to how a baby gets into the mom’s belly. So I’ve told them that Daddy gave me a seed that I swallowed (like a vitamin) and the baby starts to grow! They do know how babies make their way into the world, though.

Image by Belathée Photography

If you could describe motherhood/fatherhood in one word, what would it be?

Exhilarating.

What’s one moment in your motherhood journey that has made you proud?

My oldest daughter, Mabel, is very empathic by nature. I really love hearing stories about her kindness and compassion—the stories come my way quite frequently, which just warms my heart. We sure need more kindness and compassion in our world and I’m happy to know that she will contribute to that.

What is one piece of advice you want to pass along to your children?

Find a job that you love, so you’ll never feel like you “have to” go to work.

What is one piece of advice you would pass along to other moms?

Kids go through so many phases, so don’t sweat the small stuff. This too shall pass.

How do you tackle the work/life balance?

It’s really not easy and I can’t say I have the magic sauce for this, but this is what works for me. I’m lucky that I can work from home most days. I’m most productive in the morning, either before the kids wake up or right after I get them to school. I try and crank out as much as I can during that time and carve the rest out for family time.